(Present day)
Paris, France.
"We have received your designs for the collab, and Mr Alan expresses his deep gratitude and pleasure. The final design from our team will be mailed to you in a few days and then we'll start with production right away. It's such an honour working with you, Miss Jones!"
A seemingly middle-aged man acting as a representative for Vetements, a luxury French fashion brand, smiled nervously as a woman seated in the swivelling black leather chair across the table watched him with emotionless eyes that were as dark as the colour of her skin.
"Okay." She finally spoke after a few seconds of tense silence, her voice and speech curt and dismissive. And the man gave her another nervous smile, then looked up at a slim-built, pale-skinned lady who was standing behind the woman in the leather chair with some files in her hands. He figured she was her secretary.
The lady gave him an almost pitiful smile and watched as he picked up his briefcase, said goodbye quietly, and then made for the door after figuring he wasn't getting any warm goodbyes or any more words of acknowledgement other than 'okay.'
He was almost out of the office when a cold voice stopped him short.
"And, I better like the final designs." The woman in the chair had propped her arms up on the dark-wood desk in front of her, and she let her dark gaze sweep up to meet the representative's as she spoke, her words leaving a tinge of cold warning in the elliptical silence that followed.
"Y-yes ma'am. I'm sure you'll love them!" He probably didn't mean to, but his voice came out sounding like a terrified squeal, and the woman raised a brow at his quivering frame, then swung her chair around with her back turned towards everyone in the room as a final act of dismissal.
"Thank you for your time, Jerry! We hope to see you again soon!" The secretary lady finally spoke, a friendly, yet pitiful smile on her face as she waved him goodbye.
And quietly, Jerry—the representative who'd only recently been hired by the manager of the Vetements brand as an executive director of the marketing unit—gave the lady a small nod, then made his way out of the office.
Once he was safely locked behind the elevator doors, he let out a long breath of relief with a hand to his chest.
He didn't know what it was, but something about that woman and her dark eyes always had him quaking in his boots. It wasn't that she was particularly scary or difficult to work with, she was only very highly principled and professional, and yet something about the way she spoke and looked at people always made them either squirm or look away.
Maybe it was the fact that her beauty was so otherworldly, but she had this enigmatic aura that naturally entranced anyone in her presence and made them nervous.
Jerry rubbed his palms together in prayer as the elevator steadily advanced to the ground floor, and he thanked God that today's meeting had gone well with him managing not to run out of the room.
"Kelly, is he gone?" The dark-eyed woman groaned back in her office, and took a moment to look away from the breathtaking view of the Eiffel tower as she swiveled her chair back around.
The magnificent view of the tower was provided by an all-glass extension of walls surrounding her large, and exquisite Parisian office at the top of the company building.
"Yup!" The secretary, a bright and chirpy lady called Kelly wore an amused smile as she watched her boss's gaze flicker around the room in search of the long-gone representative.
"Ugh! I can't stand that dude! Stop smiling, will you!" The woman hissed, earning a laugh from Kelly, her assistant of four years.
Fifteen other people had worked the post before her and none of them ever returned after their first day. Kelly was the only one who had stayed, and now after four years, the dark-eyed iceberg of a human that was her boss had melted away, and a complicated, but still human nonetheless Scarlett Jones remained. Only to Kelly though, it seems.
To others who worked with her from a distance, Scarlett Jones was as cold as the arctic ocean, and no one ever seemed capable of understanding the intricacies of her personality.
"It's Vetements, boss! You should be excited to work with them!" Kelly squealed, unable to hold in her excitement any longer, and Scarlett gave her a bored eye roll, swivelling her chair round and round as the magnificent view of the city below rolled past her eyes in a blur.
"They should be excited to work with me." Her chair stopped in front of Kelly, an arrogant smirk plastered across her lips that were currently coated in dark red lipstick.
Kelly sighed, then dropped the files in her arms on the polished mahogany desk.
"Yes, your Highness. I know and we all know, but this is Vetements! Do you know how long I've dreamed of us working with them someday?!" Kelly squealed again, her hands gesturing around wildly in an energized depiction of how excited she was.
"Wow, you've got skills. Being sarcastic and sweet all in one sentence," Scarlett rolled her eyes, a hint of a smile playing on her lips as she swivelled her chair back to the Eiffel tower view.
It was lit up at this time of the evening and it looked just as breathtaking as it did every night. And even though she'd seen it in all its different states every day for over a decade, it never got old, only better with time.
"Well, what can I say? I'm just dope like that." Kelly grinned, slender hands brushing invisible dust off her shoulders in a mock-arrogant way as she laughed, when Scarlett suddenly clapped her hands twice, and swiveled her chair back around to face Kelly.
A deadpanned seriousness now replaced the former playfully bored look on her face as she opened her mouth to speak.
"What are the rest of my appointments for the day?"
A coldness that wasn't in her voice before now resided there, and Kelly sighed. She was used to her boss's sudden mood swings by now, and she simply picked up the files she had dropped a few moments ago, balanced them on her arm and proceeded to unlock her phone.
"You have a dinner meeting with Mr. Goldberg in ten minutes, and then you have a conference call with our sales director right after. Your last appointment for the day is the surprise visit to the department stores in town and then, we're done."
Kelly explained, the excitement in her voice replaced with a dull, professional tone as she flicked through the schedule outlined on her phone.
She had long mastered the "art of mood fluidity"—a course of study needed with a first-class degree to ensure safety in working with her boss.
Scarlett Jones, formerly known as one of the world's highest-paid supermodels, now turned haute couture fashion designer, brand owner and entrepreneur.
Scarlett was a woman of rigid principles and philosophies toward life. No one knew anything they didn't need to know about her, despite being in the public eye, and having so much attention on her work. Her life was pretty private and her personal relationships were exactly that, personal.
She's widely known for her humanitarianism and activism, especially towards racial injustice, equality and supporting women's rights, and a lot of her fans would describe her as a genius who's super talented and kind. But to her staff and co-workers, she's a fair, but extremely rigid boss who never takes anything lightly and sucks at interpersonal relationships.
One time, there had been rumours flying around the company that she had been diagnosed with a bipolar disorder because that seemed to be the only logical explanation for her behavioural antics. Her perfectionism always seemed like torture to other people who knew little about her, but to Kelly who had been working with her the longest, it was a quality she deeply admired.
"Okay, ready the car." Scarlett spoke, the dismissal in her tone clear, and Kelly walked out of her office, heels clicking rapidly as she stepped into the elevators and headed to her own office one floor below to place a call to Scarlett's driver.
•
•
•
"Goodnight boss," Kelly was waving to Scarlett who was about to hop into her car. She was unsure whether the goodnight wish was needed or not and her smile was apprehensive. Even with all the "mood fluidity" she'd mastered, there were still times she was in doubt and had to double-check to be sure what exact mood her boss was in so she could act accordingly.
They were done for the day and all the other workers had left, leaving only Scarlett and Kelly who had worked overtime as always, and were now just going home.
Scarlett stopped, her leg freezing halfway from stepping into the opened door of her sleek black, Rolls Royce phantom VIII.
"Wait, why don't you ride with me tonight? You mentioned earlier that your car's at the auto shop, and Raphael knows your address right? If he doesn't, just tell him and hop in." That said, her long legs disappeared into the car and the door snapped shut.
With a sigh of relief and gratitude, the twenty-seven-year-old personal assistant/secretary walked over to the other side of the car, and waited for the driver to open the door as she admired how excellent the car architecture was. She wasn't really a car person, but the Rolls Royce phantom series truly was impressive, even to someone who knew nothing about cars.
She had been dreading taking the bus home at this hour and having it only drop her at the bus stop close to her apartment complex. The walk down into the estate was still about another five minutes and she was so tired, she simply wanted to go to sleep.
The car door finally slid open after a few seconds, and Kelly got in and settled into the soft but sturdy leather seats with a sigh.
Her eyes scanned the magnificent interior of the car, a small smile of admiration on her lips as her eyes flicked up to the roof, which was covered in a constellation of tiny optical lights that looked astonishingly like stars in the night sky. And she blinked, a tired sigh escaping her lips yet again as the smell of fine leather mixed with Scarlett's familiar scent pervaded her nostrils pleasantly.
It wasn't her first time riding with her boss, but it still felt new every time and she though would never admit how good it felt to be in the same car as her, it felt really really good.
Who knew having her car over at the auto-shop today could be such a blessing in disguise.
"Everything okay?"
Scarlett's sudden question startled Kelly out of her thoughts, and she turned to look at her boss, a tired smile curving her lips.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just really tired and sore all over," she answered with a sigh, and muscle pain was truly shooting through her knee joints from walking to and fro between hers and Scarlett's office all day.
Scarlett gave her PA a once over, lips thinning in thought before she finally spoke.
"Do you want a day off?"
If Kelly had a drink, she most definitely would have choked on it at that moment.
Her eyes bulged wide open as she stared at her boss in disbelief. "Are you serious?!"
Scarlett stared at her, straight-faced and all, and then she suddenly burst out laughing.
"I'm honestly surprised at how you still believe me when I say things like this." She laughed, finding her own dry joke humorous, and Kelly's face fell into an expression that said 'I don't find you funny' before she spoke.
"Day-offs aren't things to be joked about." She huffed and watched Scarlett who was still laughing at her own very un-funny joke, and the corner of her lips pulled up into a warm smile.
She liked this Scarlett. The playful, less rigid Scarlett. She was more likeable.
"It's always fun to rile you up." Scarlett smiled after her laughter died out, and Kelly shook her head.
"Well y-" she began, but was cut off by a loud ringtone, and she frowned and pulled her phone out of her purse.
"Excuse me for a minute," She said to Scarlett and then swiped a thumb across her phone screen and pressed the phone to her ear.
"Hello, Kelly Jordan speaking."
Scarlett nodded and leaned back in her seat with a sigh, hoping for both of their sakes, that the call wasn't work-related as she pushed a button on the side of her seat.
A puffy, leather leg-rest rose beneath her chair, and her legs were pushed up and stretched out comfortably.
"What?!"
Kelly's shout alarmed Scarlett and she lifted her head immediately, wondering what had happened.
"What is it? What's wrong?" She asked worriedly, and Kelly's pale face turned even paler than usual, her slender hands trembling with her phone still held to her ear.
"Kelly," Scarlett frowned, her mind beginning to race as her P.A's eyes flicked up to meet hers.
"Boss..." Kelly's voice shook, her phone sliding down her cheek as the call ended. "It's your mom. She was just rushed to a hospital in Rome after suffering a heart attack. They fear she might be...d-dead."
A loud bleep went off in Scarlett's head and her heart stopped beating for a long second before it began hammering fast and heavily against her ribcage again.
What?
A million questions and thoughts ran through her head in a millisecond, none of them coherent, and instead of asking Kelly more useless questions that wouldn't help the situation in any way, she turned to Raphael—a middle-aged French man who worked for her part-time as her driver—voice harder than steel as she gave a simple command in French.
"Raphael, turn this car around immediately and head for the airport."
"Oui mademoiselle! Immediatement!" A gruff voice called back from the driver's seat and the car increased in speed, even though that could barely be felt by its passengers.
Scarlett then turned to Kelly. "Kelly, you know what to do."
Kelly's hands trembled, her mind still not over the shock of the news yet.
Barbara Jones, the very few times she'd met the woman, was a fun and lively woman with an energetic vibe that automatically drew an intrigued audience to her. Kelly couldn't even picture the woman sick, let alone...dead.
"Kelly!" Scarlett's yell shook Kelly out of her daze and her eyes flicked around nervously.
"Y-yes boss! I'll place a call to the French airline in charge of the company jet immediately seeing as it's too late to book a flight. And of course, I need to arrange for a car and a driver to pick us up at the airport in Rome." Kelly rambled, a list of the things she needed to do suddenly rolling out in her mind as she unlocked her phone and began scrolling through her contact list.
"Kelly, look at me." Scarlett brought her voice down a notch, a sliver of fear shining in her dark eyes as she tried desperately to keep her cool.
"My mom isn't dead, okay? And she isn't dying anytime soon."
Kelly nodded at her boss's words, her expression solemnly sour as she hoped Scarlett was right.